How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I have to smile, even as I chafe, as always, at our family's patented inability to express emotion during watershed events. (1.4)
The novel's just started and we already know what Judd's challenge will be. In order to properly mourn his father, he'll need to learn how to share his emotions with his family. Good luck, bro.
Quote #2
So his actual death itself was less an event than a final sad detail (1.21)
Mort's death wasn't sudden and shocking; it had been a long time coming. Sometimes, those deaths are harder on a family, which has to mourn while the dying member is still alive.
Quote #3
Childhood feels so permanent, like it's the entire world, and then one day it's over and you're shoveling wet dirt onto your father's coffin, stunned at the impermanence of everything. (4.34)
Poor Judd: thirty-five years old, and he's finally being forced to grow up. His father's death is the last nail in the coffin—pardon the pun. Now his dad's dead, and he's got to be the man of the house. But first, he has to get a house.